Israeli missile hits Iran, U.S. officials confirm
Two U.S. officials confirm to CBS News that an Israeli missile has hit Iran. The strike follows last weekend’s retaliatory drone and missile attack against Israel, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed to respond to.
Officials were tightlipped about the location or extent of the Israeli strike. When reached by CBS News, the Israeli Defense Forces had no comment on the attack.
The Iranian state-run IRNA news agency said air defenses fired at a major airbase in Isfahan, which long has been home to Iran’s fleet of American-made F-14 Tomcats — purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The semiofficial Fars and Tasnim news agencies also reported the sound of blasts, without giving a cause. State television acknowledged a “loud noise” in the area.
Isfahan also is home to sites associated with Iran’s nuclear program, including its underground Natanz enrichment site, which has been repeatedly targeted by suspected Israeli attacks. However, state television described all sites in the area as “fully safe.”
Dubai-based carriers Emirates and FlyDubai began diverting around western Iran about 4:30 a.m. local time. They offered no explanation, though local warnings to aviators suggested the airspace may have been closed.
Iran later announced it grounded commercial flights in Tehran and across areas of its western and central regions. Loudspeakers informed customers of the incident at Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran, online videos purported to show.
Iran last weekend launched an unprecedented retaliatory strike against Israel in response to a deadly attack on an Iranian consulate in Syria, which killed seven officers, including two generals, from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iran’s attack on Israel included 170 drones, over 30 cruise missiles and 120 ballistic missiles, according to the IDF and U.S. officials. None of the drones crossed into Israeli territory before they were shot down by Israel and its allies, including the U.S., the IDF said.
Five of the ballistic missiles struck Israel, with four of them hitting Israel’s Nevatim Air Base, where Israeli F-35s are based, U.S. officials told CBS News. The officials believe the base was likely Iran’s primary target, as the strike against the consulate in Syria is believed to have been carried out by an F-35.
The U.S. and other allies of Israel have urged Netanyahu to exercise restraint in any possible response to Iran. U.S. officials have said the country would not participate in any Israeli retaliatory strike.
In the aftermath of Iran’s attack, which the IDF said caused “very little damage,” President Biden pressed the Israeli prime minister, “to think about what that success says all by itself to the rest of the region,” according to National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
— Margaret Brennan, James LaPorta, David Martin and Haley Ott contributed reporting.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.